It’s not every day that we pack up, hop on a plane and travel over 11,000 kilometres for our summer holidays, but the Hasiuk family did just that – and all for the Oilers Hockey School. Living in an expat camp near Khobar, Saudi Arabia, the Hasiuk family returned to St. Albert for the second year in a row to allow their son Jett to attend the popular summer hockey camp.

“He did three weeks of hockey camp last year and we’re back for three more,” said Jett’s dad, Daniel Hasiuk.

The Oilers Hockey School presented by Cenovus Energy is in the midst of its third week held at SERVUS Place in St. Albert. While most participants attend only one week and a select few return for a second, Jett is finishing up his third straight week of drills, skating and fun.

“There are other great camps we’ve been to as well but the Oilers camp has proved to be a worthwhile investment in time, money and energy for us to do this for three weeks at a time.”

At just six years old, Jett and his fellow hockey camp participants are exposed to a positive environment where they’re encouraged to learn new skills, work on their strengths and weaknesses and attend off-ice training and wellness classes. The coaches are involved every step of the way and work with each individual player to address their skill set.

“There’s quite a range of ability. There’s some who are just learning to skate, others who are doing killer crossovers and everything else, and Jett’s kind of in the mid-range so we’re comfortable with him being here,” said Hasiuk.

“My wife and I have been involved with athletics and coaching for a long time and I feel like it’s a really well done, well thought out, well planned camp. They’re always looking to the coaches for approval, they always want to make them happy and that shows you that there’s a really good level of engagement and there’s a really good level of instruction going on.”

Joining the travel brigade, hockey school participant Wesley Bath made the 6,000 kilometer trek from Newfoundland to attend the Oilers camp for his third consecutive year.

“It’s a great facility they have here and we really enjoy the camp. The instructors are great so we thought it would be nice to come back,” said Wesley’s dad, Brooks Bath.

On top of expert instruction, on-ice skill development and dry-land training, Wesley’s stand-out moment from week one of camp was “getting to meet Theo Peckham”. During his visit, the Oilers defenceman signed autographs, joked around and left a few words of wisdom for the budding players. In addition to Peckham, other special visitors included Oilers prospect Tyler Bunz and Hockey Hall of Famer Grant Fuhr.

While the third week of Oilers Hockey School presented by Cenovus Energy is coming to a close in St. Albert, the fun won’t be ending just yet. Organizers will pack up and head north to the Suncor Community Leisure Centre in Fort McMurray for the final six-day camp. For anyone interested, limited spots are still available for the final week.

For more information on how to provide your children with expert instruction and a fun atmosphere at the Oilers Hockey School presented by Cenovus Energy, please visit edmontonoilers.com.